Crime

It's unfortunate when an everyday accident happens but it's sad when columnist Dan Rodricks and Michael Hanchard use it to play the race card ("Man sees race, indifference in experience with Baltimore police," April 13). First, if as Michael Hanchard suggested "a middle-aged white couple had been surrounded by black or Latino attackers" no one would have known about it since The Sun wouldn't have printed whether the alleged attackers were black or Latino. They call that being PC. Secondly, if the couple were white they would have to be very careful where they drive or walk in the city, since they could be attacked simply because they are white.

The following is compiled from local police reports. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Wilkens Police Station at 410-887-0872. Wade Avenue, unit block, between 9 p.m. April 5, and 7 a.m. April 6. Generator, power washer, table saw and miter saw stolen from unlocked shed. North Rolling Road, 100 block, between 8:30 a.m. and 6:10 p.m., April 5. Two TVs, Mac PC, iPad and iPod stolen.

The following is compiled from local police reports. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Wilkens Police Station at 410-887-0872. East Drive, 5300 block, 5:15 a.m. April 7. Side window broken and electric wires cut. Nothing stolen. McDowell Lane, 3800 block, between 5:30 p.m. April 1, and 6 p.m. April 2. Flat screen TV, video game and Xbox 360 stolen.

As record heat baked Baltimore, a wave of violence unfurled across the city: six shootings and eight people wounded over a period of less than eight hours. The first shots were fired around dinnertime Wednesday, and the violence continued until after 2 a.m. Thursday. Police have no suspects in any of the crimes - which included two double shootings - and believe the seven wounded men and one injured woman will survive. Several academic studies of crime suggest that it's no coincidence that the outburst of violence came as the temperature at the Inner Harbor hit 96 degrees.

The following is compiled from local police reports. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Wilkens Police Station at 410-887-0872. Baltimore National Pike, 5900 block, between 6 p.m. March 15, and 11:03 a.m. March 29. Fence and spool of fiber optic cable cut at Maryland State Highway Administration building. Bellegrove Road, unit block, between noon.

The weekend tweets from the Baltimore Police Department featured a recruiting video, an appeal reminding domestic violence victims that officers can help, and a message honoring a colleague who died 40 years ago. But when a fatal stabbing at the Inner Harbor went unmentioned on Twitter by the city agency, police union president Robert F. Cherry decided police weren't making the most of their 140 characters. So the Fraternal Order of Police lodge used its own Twitter account to criticize the police tweets on Sunday night, calling them "public relations propaganda" and saying major crimes too often go unmentioned because "police don't want you to know everything.

A group of victim advocates are holding a "tweetchat" to draw attention to what they said was a broken promise from Gov. Martin O'Malley to give money to families of homicide victims. The chat can be followed on Twitter using the hash tag #victimsmatter In the bill that would repeal Maryland's death penalty, O'Malley included $500,000 for next year's budget to help families of murder victims and other violent crimes. O'Malley pressed repeal on the grounds it was expense and ineffective, arguing taxpayer dollars should be better spent.

The following is compiled from Howard police reports. East Columbia Broken Land Parkway and Stevens Forest Road, 1:30 a.m. March 29. While stopped at a traffic light, the victim heard an unknown man knocking on the window of his vehicle. When the victim unlocked the vehicle door and opened it, the man produced a handgun and ordered the driver to the passenger seat. The victim attempted to exit via the passenger side door but was stopped by a second man and was then struck with the handgun by the first man, resulting in an injury to his face.

The following is compiled from Howard police reports. Savage/North Laurel Henkels Lane, 8900 block, 3:26 a.m. April 1. Officers responding to an alarm discovered a stolen van backed up to the front of Tools & Accessories Corporation with the engine running and the door open. The front door glass windows to the business were smashed out and a chain had been attached to the door and the bumper of the van. It appears after that attempt to open the door failed, the van was backed into the door.

The recent editorial in The Sun ("Stopping the killing," March 24) argues the police should be focusing on guns and violent offenders. Clearly, there is value in having the police take as many guns off the street as possible, and strategies that engage hard-core violent offenders make a difference. That is why Commissioner Anthony Batts and his command staff have made guns, gangs and violent offenders the key elements of a strategy with five areas of focus aimed at reducing the unacceptable level of homicides in the city.